[AlexG]

Thought that would get your attention.  😉

In all seriousness, though, its a question that has come back to my mind, due to a number of random comments from some recent threads on the forum.  Years back a similar question was raised in the AAWA news group, of whether or not FBBing was a mental disorder – a form of self-mutilation, to be precise.

For clarity, I'm NOT talking about your average Jane six-pack who subscribes to a physical culturalist lifestyle of making the time/effort to routinely work out at the gym and maintaining a balanced diet.  Rather, I'm strictly speaking of contest level FBBing, which is a whole other universe where the extremes of pushing the Human body beyond any reasonable expectations for muscular size, while at the same time depleting it fat, water, sodium, etc to incredibly unrealistic and even life threatening levels of continued existence.  Even post-contest well-being, assuming that they ever really recover in whole, physically, as much as mentally from the use of the various drugs and highly restrictive dieting required to achieve their "appearance", however artificial and transitory it might be.

Opinions – pro, con or otherwise.  8)

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[pict]

Some folks are workaholics, some aren't.
Some FBB's take it "too far" and some don't. Betty Pariso, Annie Rivieccio, Vicki Nixon… have been FBBers for years/decades and maintained their general health.
Probably not fair to paint all FFBers with the same brush (though I'm going to break that rule right now by saying they all look great).
Besides, even if a particular FBBer takes it a bit "too far", show me ANYBODY who is perfect.
Ya can't.
"We're all Bozos on this bus."

[Seldom]

Is any and every obsession a mental disorder?  Then I would say yes.

I personally don't understand bodybuilding judging standards at all.  The women get up there gleaming, popping, and dehydrated, in the most skeletal look they can maintain for six hours, and it drains the skin, hurts the kidneys, and turns a bodybuilder from a beautifully muscular woman into a creepily grinning anatomy chart (I understand opinions may vary, this is mine).

Every female bodybuilder I see looks so much better in the offseason, bigger, bulkier, healthier, much prettier, and much, much stronger, which should be the whole point!  The toll it takes to win with the current standards is punishing and, in my opinion, far too high.  And while I think older bodybuilders have found the closest thing to the fountain of youth, you can see how quickly it ages younger (20's and 30's) competitors.

I hope for an evolution in judging standards, or at least a rebellion among the women, where they say "hey, we want to compete as huge, muscular women, not dried out exhausted muscle charts!"  A man can dream!

[00tree]

I think that this is a rediculous question. anything can be clasified as a mental disorder  ::) If you watch five minutes of TV and have to flip the channel, if you see a body of water and just HAVE to jump in, if you have to hit every fifth pedestrion you see while driving…

The list could go on forever. A mental disorder seems to be any thought that contradicts what is "normal" thought and/or behavior so since FBBing will never be accepted as normal I guess your answer is yes. I say the hell with normal, I LOVE MUSCLE-GIRLS!!!  ;D

[Lingster]

Well…  It's not a mental illness in itself, and I wouldn't tie it just to women.  However, hardcore (and drug using) bodybuilding of any kind – competitive or otherwise, male or female – is probably rooted in problems with obsessive or narcissistic behavior.   I'm not a shrink, though.

People who become fixated on creating a "new" self or an extremely powerful facade tend to have problems.

[Fett]

Wouldn't the mental illness be something that manifests through bodybuilding, rather than bodybuilding itself be the illness?

That's kinda like saying "Is eating a mental disorder?" because some people overeat or undereat.

[Author]

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